Wilmington Trust, To Comply With TARP, Asks CEO To Return Pay
January 04 2011 - 4:51PM
Dow Jones News
Wilmington Trust Corp. (WL), in order to comply with government
bailout rules, recently rescinded more than $1.8 million in
compensation from Chief Executive Donald Foley, possibly the first
time a top bank official has had to return money for this
reason.
Wilmington Trust--which in November agreed to be bought by
M&T Bank Corp. (MTB) at a price below book value--received $330
million in government bailout funds and was subject to pay
restrictions under the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief
Program.
Specifically, because the Delaware bank received more than $250
million in TARP funds, bonus rules were applicable to the top five
senior officers as well as the next 10 highly compensated
employees.
In an emailed statement, a company spokesman said "Mr. Foley and
the Board determined that it was necessary to adjust elements of
his compensation in order to be in full compliance with regulations
covering compensation at institutions that have received TARP
funds."
A Treasury Department spokesman declined to comment on
Wilmington Trust specifically, but said, "Treasury requires that
all TARP institutions follow the relevant rules on executive pay
and that management certify their compliance on an annual
basis."
The rescinded pay included a $1.75 million signing bonus in cash
and restricted stock. Foley also agreed to reduce the number of
shares of restricted stock granted to him in 2010 to 23,463 from
40,026, valued at more than $248,000 when they were granted to him
when he was named CEO in June.
Wilmington Trust, known for its focus on wealthy clients,
disclosed the move in a regulatory filing on Dec. 23. In the
filing, Wilmington Trust also raised Foley's base salary to $1.5
million per year from $1.2 million.
Gerard Cassidy, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said the
revoked pay is, to his knowledge, the first instance "where a bank
had to return compensation because of the problems they had,"
adding that it may be an indication that the company didn't realize
how deeply its loan book was in trouble.
On Nov. 1, Wilmington Trust agreed to be acquired by M&T for
$3.84 a share, which at the time, was a 46% discount to the bank's
closing price a few days earlier. That deal was announced the same
day Wilmington Trust posted a $365.3 million third-quarter loss,
driven by increasing losses from bad construction loans.
Wilmington Trust shares, down 64% over the past year, closed
down 2.2% to $4.38 on Tuesday.
News of Wilmington's adjustment of Foley's compensation was
reported earlier Tuesday by Bloomberg News.
-By Brett Philbin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2173;
brett.philbin@dowjones.com
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